Take my picture mom….

My little Marin likes me to take pictures of her with things, it's so funny!  The latest few requests came when she was wearing her favorite "mousy" hat and with her water bottle.  Of course I don't mind taking her picture at all because she is so darn cute!!

And it's off, for the third time….

We have been waiting a looooonnnngggg 4 weeks for Carlee to get her cast off.  We went to the doctors office with not just our fingers crossed, but everything possible crossed, hoping that it would come off for good.  Luckily that was the case and she only has to wear a brace for 6 weeks or longer if necessary.  She will have to ease back into cheer, but should be okay.  It was so cute and sad when the cast came off.  First off all her leg was nasty, so Andy took Carlee over to the sink and gave her a mini bath right there in the cast room.  Carlee was a so excited to walk, but slowly she began to cry when she realized how hard it was to walk again.  I think she was a little embarrassed by her new limp, she didn't even want to go back to school, which was fine.  We had her just come home and take it easy and watch tv.  I really just can't believe what a trooper Carlee was throughout this whole ordeal….again.  I just pray that she never has to be in a cast again, but that probably won't happen.

Thanksgiving 2013….

I love the Thanksgiving time of year.  I love that it's fall, the kids get a break from school, we spend a lot of time together, we make lots of yummy food that we can't eat, and it's prep time for the Christmas holiday.  This year I started to make a lot of the food the day before, and of course, I had some great kitchen helpers.  Carlee and her friend Natalie "helped" by watching and being silly.  The thing that takes the most prep and time is the rainbow jello.  I don't even like jello, but it was a tradition in Andy's family, so I make it for him, and it looks so pretty.  Marin and Tessa helped Andy make the pies which was a huge mess, but oh so cute.

Thanksgiving day was great.  We had Nana and Gramps over, the missionaries, and our new friends Brett and Shay over.  It was a great group and so much fun.  I love after everyone is done eating and the kids run off screaming happily and playing and the adults just sit and relax waiting until the last possible minute to start the clean up.  Really everything about the day was just so fabulous and fun, I am so grateful for those we could share it with.

Young Women In Excellence, The Treasure Within….

We finally had our Young Women in Excellence program to end the year.  We went with the theme of The Treasure Within, going with the idea that the girls have a treasure within them.  We had a wonderful program reviewing the Personal Progress Program and seeing all of the amazing projects the girls worked on.  I was so proud of the girls and proud of them for following through on their commitments.  It was a great night and I am so lucky to work with these Young Women, other leaders, and especially the Beehives.

Boo for Halloween and Boo it happened again….

It is easy to say that Halloween this year was NOTHING like we had planned.  The day started off great, the kids all went to school so excited for all of their class parties and had their costumes in tow, ready to change into at the end of the day.  Porter was Willie from Duck Dynasty, Carlee was Dorothy, Tessa was Glenda, and Marin was an Angry Bird (again)  I took Marin in town during the day for the trick-or-treating at the shops which was so fun.  It was a good way for her to get a lot of good loot and fast.  We met Nichole and Anna there making it extra fun for Marin.  Then later Marin and I went to the Warren for the school parties.  When we got there, Carlee's class was just coming from gym and starting to change into their costumes.  I noticed Carlee was limping around and trying not to cry.  She said that she has twisted her ankle and fallen in gym when she stepped on a hula hoop and slipped and fell.  I kept asking her if she was okay, but she was trying to be tough and didn't want to leave her class party.  Meanwhile, Tessa's class was doing their Kindergarten costume parade and walked through Carlee's class.  Tessa looked so pretty in her Glenda the Good Witch costume.  I think she was so proud of her awesome costume and wand that we had made the night before.

After school we went home and had dinner and Carlee just rested, her ankle was really bothering her.  Finally it was time to head to the church for the trunk-or-treat.  Carlee was still in pain, so Andy took her to the ER to check her out and splint her leg, he was pretty sure it was broken.  So I was at the church with Porter, Tessa, and Marin getting some candy, but it was soooo cold and windy.  Marin did not want to walk around.  Finally Andy and Carlee returned to the church with a wagon for her to ride in.  I was so sad for her and just wanted to go home, but Andy was not about to let that happen.  He pulled her around the parking lot, then insisted that we go and do some real trick or treating.  We headed over to the East Gate neighborhoods and again, Andy was pulling Carlee around in the wagon and carrying her to the doors.  Finally the temps beat us and the kids were tired, it was time to call it a day.  I typically love Halloween, but this year threw me off a bit.  Hoping for a better, accident free Halloween next year!

I have to give a huge shout out to my amazing mother-in-law for making the girls costumes.  We just could not find good Dorothy or Glenda costumes for the girls, so I finally asked KayLee if she would make them, and of course they turned out amazing, I know the girls felt so special in them.  Thank you so much for your time, talent, and effort KayLee, it means so much to the girls and I.  Love you!

Carlee's Baptism Celebration.....

We had an amazing weekend celebrating for Carlee's baptism.  First to arrive here in Montana on Thursday evening was Andy's parents and they brought Danielle and her kiddos, and Chris and Aubrey and their kids.  They got in pretty late, but we woke up our kids to say hi, they all just love each other so much and get so excited!

The next morning was a lazy morning.  We all took our time getting ready, the kids just played, and we just sat and visited.  Eventually we made it out the door for some girl shopping time and the men headed to the virtual archery range.  Us girls had so much fun at Target and Murdoch's, that is about all we have here in Helena.....After our shopping was over and the kids had enough, we went home and made dinner.  It was about this time that Mike and Erin showed up and they also brought Lauren.  We had a great dinner together and a wonderful dessert of Uncle Chris's cookies, I am pretty sure he made 6 dozen for everyone!

Friday night was a highlight for me because us girls finally had time to do our "Favorite Things" activity.  This year was just as wonderful as the past 6 we have had.  We all laughed and cried and talked, sometimes all at the same time!  There were some great "favorites" this year.  Danielle gave us each her favorite cookbook and showed us some of her favorite things in the book to make and she also gave us a bottle of the Torani syrup in coconut flavor to make dirty Dr. Peppers.  Aubrey gave us each cool water bottles and a pair of socks.  Lauren chose a super cute scarf and wrote each of us a letter that made us all cry.  Erin gave us all bubble necklaces.  I gave a baking mat and a picture of President Monson.  KayLee....well she always goes above and beyond....she gave a coat, purse, jewelry, ice cream scoop, chap stick, lotion, and more that I know I am forgetting at this moment.  After all was said and done us girls stayed up late chatting, doing nails, and taking horrible pictures of ourselves that caused me to laugh so hard I was crying.  I love these women and I am so grateful for their presence in my life, they inspire me and are great examples to me, I am just so lucky to have them as my sisters and KayLee as my mother-in-law.

Saturday morning my family had family pictures so we went and did that and left everyone home to get ready.  Pictures went well, Marin had a few moments, but I feel like we got the job done and I am so excited to see the final product from my friend Janna.  We took some pictures on my camera but I know they don't look as great as Janna's will.

When we got home from pictures everyone helped to do a quick pick up and then we headed to McKenzie River Pizza for lunch.  We had a great lunch, good food, good company.  After eating we came home and started to change and get ready for the baptism.

Our family headed up to the church early to get some pictures of Carlee and get her changed into the cute white suit.  She looked so adorable and yet so mature at the same time.  She didn't seem nervous at all and I could tell how special she felt each time someone came up to congratulate her.  The program began and talks were given about baptism, one talk was about the Holy Ghost given by KayLee.  Erin and Lauren played a beautiful musical number while some of the grand kids sang along.

At one point during the program I looked backed behind us because we were sitting in the front row, and I was overcome with emotion.  We had so many people there to support Carlee on her special day, it just meant so much.  Each of Andy's siblings were there, his parents, Aunt Chris and Uncle Glen came from Bozeman, my parents, so many of our friends from Helena were there, it was just so wonderful.  I will say this over and over, but it is because it's true.....Andy and I are so blessed with the people in our lives, they are great to us.

The baptism itself was great.  Carlee just walked right into the font and was ready.  Seeing my little "stinker" standing there with a big smile on her face brought tears to my eyes.  The feeling of the spirit was so strong and peaceful, I was so happy that Carlee was so happy.  I was so proud of her for choosing to be baptized.  After the actual baptism was performed it was just her and I in the bathroom getting her back into her dress.  She kept talking about how warm the water was and that it felt good.

After many pictures and hugs we headed back to our house for food and fun.  It was so nice to sit and visit with everyone and to just relax.  Carlee was having a great time with her friends and her cousins.  I would watch her walk around the house and I knew she felt special and that she was happy, and that is all that mattered to me.

Again, I am just so overwhelmed by the love and support we had from family and friends over the weekend.  I so appreciate the effort of everyone to show Carlee they loved her and were proud of her, it just means the world to all of us and we couldn't have asked for a better weekend for Carlee.

8 is great when your horsin' around.....

We celebrated Carlee's 8th birthday last night with a horse party of course. Before her friends showed up I took some pictures of her and her cake, something I always forget to do until it's about time to cut the cake.

 
Birthday girl loves her cake.

  Kissy kissy.

 
The cake was so fun to make. The ruffles were fun to play with and I chose to make them in her favorite color and topped the whole thing off with her very first Breyer horse. Needless to say, Carlee loved it! 

Now it was time to party. Carlee's riding instructor came with some horses for everyone to ride. It was a perfect evening, just a little chilly.

  Quinn, Hallie, Marin, and Tessa chillin on the bench eating pizza while they waited their turn to ride.

  Carlee and her best friend Natalie were the first to ride.

 
 Carlee on Luna.  Luna was the horse Carlee first learned to ride on, she's a sweetie.

 
 Girl talk on horse back.

 
 My Tessa May, she loved riding and I think she looked good doing it too!

 
 I love this picture, the girls were just having so much fun. Carlee is pulling Quinn, and Candy is pulling Tessa, they loved trotting.

 
Carlee and Hallie.

 
And finally my little Marin had a turn to ride. She loved it so much, it was so cute.

Next we were on to the hide and seek game. Andy bought some saw dust chips and hid some toys and of course candy in it for the kids to find. I was not to fond of him doing this in the house, but he pulled it off. He made some sort of box thing and put the tarp inside of it and it worked out great. The kids loved trying to find everything.

 
 Carlee and Natalie looking for the goods. Andy even bought the cute horse bags for the kids to put the goods into.

 
 The whole gang. Time for cake, ice cream, and presents!!

  Happiness.

  Wait for it, wait for it.....

  BLOW!!!!!

 
And that's a wrap and a super fun party. Overall the kids had a super great time. Andy also made each kid a lasso to play with and take home, that part was a little crazy but great fun.

It is so weird to look at these pictures of Carlee, she looks so big and beautiful. More than anything I love her smile in all of the pics, and that is what I love most about her, she is always happy. Carlee is such a joy to have in our lives and I am so lucky to be her mom.